This Article/Introduction
This article is a review on my grandfathers wristwatch, which is currently at my house
because it needs to be cleaned/serviced. This article starts with some general
information and history about the Constellation line from Omega SA. My grandfather is

first owner of it and he bought it in 1968 at Kwekkeboom in Enschede (Netherlands)
when they were an Omega dealer. He also bought a ladies automatic watch for my
grandmother, I think it is a Ladymatic. My greatgrandfather bought a 1965 Omega
Constellation (goldcapped) with a cal.551 movement and that one is now on the wrist of
my father. That one is a pie-pan model, which was and still is one of the most desired
Constellations since 1952.

General Information
To learn more about Omega or if you want to know more about other Omega models,
please contact : www.chronocentric.com/network/
For a complete FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on maintaining your Omega watch
or general questions, visit the Omega F.A.Q. page of Damon.
http://home.xnet.com/~cmaddox/damonsfaq.html

Omega Constellation Chronometers
Omega, the famous watchcompany from Biel, always attended the Observatorycontests which were hold at several places. A total of 93 victories, whereof 72 are real
records. A few big names of precisionregulators from Omega are : Alfred Jaccard,
Albert Willemin, Werner Dubois, Carl Billeter, Joseph Ory and AndrĂŠ Brielmann.
Omega decided that it would be important to produce
a serie of wristwatches that had the chronometer
certificate. So Omega introduced the first
chronometer wristwatch in 1939, called "30mm".
Omega produced a lot of chronometer wristwatches,
the 100.000th chronometer timekeeper was produced
in 1946. In 1952, Omega introduced the
Constellation. A watch that later on became the
flagship of Omega and still is.
On your right you see the first Constellation. The first
Constellations (till late 60s) were also reffered to as
'pie-pans' because the dial has the same shape as a
upside down pie-pan. It used the 28.10RA movement
a.k.a the cal.354 movement.

The Constellation line

On your left you'll see the cal.354
movement as used in those first
Constellations. Later on, Omega started
using the cal.5xx movements like the
501, 505 and after that the 551,
561(date) and 564 (quickset date). In
1958 the Constellation Chronometer
had a higher number of watches
produced and sold than the Rolex
Oyster-Perpetual Chronometer. This
lasted until 1969 (194.580 Omega
Chronometers vs 179.169 Rolex
Chronometers), then Omega lost track
and maybe this was also part of the
Quartz-revolution/crisis. Omega still
isn't back at the spot it once was, but
imo they are on their way (with the 18kt
WG Speedmaster Moonphase, CoAxial and tourbillon).
Back in the '50s and '60s, Omega had
the same status (or even better) than
Rolex. Rolex had a different
status/image back then they have now.
It was a fine Swiss watch which was
innovative and affordable (relatively
spoken). The Constellation serie was
one of the most accurate watches
around and came in different flavors.
The Constellation is already 48 years in
the collection of Omega, and it probably
will stay there for the rest of Omegas
lifetime. Omega is not complete without
this watchline. The current models (as
can be seen elsewhere in this
document) are available with automatic
and quartz movements. The current
automatic movement is an ETA 2892A2 based movement (Omega cal.1120)
and is chronometer certified. One of the
nicer modified ETA 2892-A2
movements around in my opinion.
The cal.354 on the left is not a
chronometer grade movement.

Constellations also used the cal.352
movement, which was the deluxe
excution of the chronometer graded
movement.

Movements
The movements in the
Constellations in the
period of 1952-1970
were all in-house.
After that they started
using the electronic
movements from
Bulova/ESA (now
ETA) and the Lemania
automatic movements.
So if you want a watch
with an in-house
movement, check
those vintage
beauties. In the early
70s they also used the
75x movements, which
are also in-house.
The movement on the
right is a cal. 561. This
movement was used a
lot in the
Constellations with a
date-window. It is
based on the cal.550
movement that was
introduced in 1959. It
ticks at 19.800 bph,
has 24 jewels and is
(ofcourse)
chronometer certified.
This movements lacks
a quickset feature, you
have to search for a

Constellation with a
cal.564 movement for
this option.

Where to purchase them?
Vintage Constellations are very wanted. Prices are going up as we speak and still,
these vintage beauties aren't very hard to find. They can be found at most online
watchstores, regular watchstores (occasions) and watchfairs. Prices for steel models
(depending on condition of the watch) from the mid-60s (with a cal.551 or 56x) are
starting at about 300 USD. The prices for gold-capped or even solid gold models are
higher. Also the ones with gold bracelets are more expensive. The bracelets for these
watches are hard to get. They are known to break or fail and most of them were
replaced by aftermarket bracelets or a leather strap one time.

You can also take a look at one of the various auction websites like eBay, Henrys(.de)
and Ricardo .

My grandfathers Constellation / The Review

My grandfather bought the watch in 1968 at a local jeweler in Enschede called
Kwekkeboom. Kwekkeboom is still situated in the shoppingcentre of Enschede and sells
Tag Heuer, IWC, Zenith, Ebel and a lot of jewels. They don't have Omega in their
collection anymore, the reason is unknown, but I am quite glad that they don't sell it
anymore. The salespeople don't know much about the watches they are selling, like
most jewelers in general. My grandfather stills owns all papers that came with it
(including the chronometerwarranty) and the red box. Omega was a brand that was just
as well known as Rolex is now. A good Swiss watch that was available starting at very
affordable prices (Omega Geneve line) and ended in 18kt gold watches with fabulous
mechanic movements (Omega Constellation/Seamaster Deluxe).

I can't say much about the reasons why they bought it, I guess they just wanted to have
a good watch. As you can see on the picture above, the bracelet is aftermarket. It is
14kt solid gold, and feels very comfortable (I need some extra links (which my
grandfather still has somewhere in a drawer) to make it fit for me personally) but it looks
a bit too gaudy on my wrist (I am 23 ;-)). He replaced the original bracelet because the
sides of it got rough and ripped all his shirts. He traded in his original bracelet for this
one, a much nicer one imo. I don't like the milanese style bracelets at all. The clasp is
not a safety buckle as can be seen above, but it will do (you have to make sure that the
bracelet isn't too tight so it won't flip open by accident).
The watch has an
height of ca. 1 cm, and
has a plastic crystal. I
think it is an
aftermarket crystal,
because I had it
replaced 2 years ago
when it had a crack in
it. It could be original,
but I can't see any
signs that it is. The
crown is original, but
shows signs of wear, I
think it is some sort of
doublĂŠ or plated gold. I
think I will try to look for
a 8 sided original
massive gold crown,
like the one on a piepan model.
As you can see, this
watch is a goldcapped
model. It has the 14kt
585 sign (a leaf of an
oak?) in one of the lugs
and in the bracelet.
Gold less than 14kt
was not 'official' here in
the Netherlands. So 8kt
(333) and 10kt (?)
wasn't used here on
Omega watches.

The caseback is a 'screw'type and it has the gold
observatorium that all
Constellations have (except
for some models, including
the electronics?). The
observatorium on these
watches is much nicer
(because it is more 'bold')
than the ones on the current
line of Constellations imo (I
have one). You can also see
that the lugs are stainless
steel on the inside/back of
the watch.
I don't have pictures of the
movement, but when I
opened it up this evening, it
has a gasketring on the
caseback. The gasketring
has to be replaced once in a
while to make it dust and (a
bit) waterresistant.

The movement that ticks inside is a cal.564, which is an inhouse movement of Omega
that was based on cal.551 (since 1959). It has 24 jewels, a date (quickset) and is
chronometer certified. When you pull the crown once, you can set the time. When you
pull it again (from position 1), it will automatically increase the date. The datechange
begins at 22:00 and ends at 0:00. I can't test the accuracy of the watch since it has to
be serviced, but I think it will run fine once the job is done. I will update this article with a
accuracy-test.

Above you see a similar movement. The serialnumber on my grandfather's watch is
starting with 25728xxx. So I guess it was made in 1967 (according to my own
time/productiontable that I have made a while ago). The ref.type is 168.010. The '1' in
the Omega symbol means that it is a revised version of the movement.

The dial has a
sort of
'champagne'
color and is a bit
damaged at
some points. I
heard that my
grandfather
forgot to take
his watch off
when washing
hands or while
doing the dishes
and that the
watch/dial
catched some
water. I don't
think it can be
restored without
doing damage
to its originality.
The raised
Omega symbol
and word are
gold and so are
the markers,
hands and the
square around
the datewindow.
The glass
scratches quite
easily, but these
tiny scratches
can be removed
with Polywatch
or brasso.
The tritium is
almost gone
and it doesn't
luminate at all at
night or in the
dark. The hands
also lost a bit of
tritium through

the years. It can
be restored, but
here goes the
same as with
restoration of
the dial.
Perfection or
originality?

Me, wearing my
grandfathers
Constellation.
Although the
bracelet is a bit
too tight for me,
I think it is a hell
of a
dresswatch.
The size is
perfect, not too
small and
certainly not too
big. Normally I
am used
wearing a
Speedmaster
Professional or
a Seamaster
Professional but
I was used to
this size within
a blink of the
eye.
Again, for me
personally, I
would prefer a
brown leather
crocograin strap
over a gold
bracelet. My
new
Constellation
however, has a

gold/steel
combination
bracelet which
suits me fine.

Conclusion
One of the next watches in my modest collection will be a vintage Constellation, and I
think I have to be quick because prices are going up fast. I saw this trend again on the
last watchfair in Houten (near Utrecht, The Netherlands). Omega always saw their
Constellation as the flagship of their collection, and I think the vintage Constellations
ranging from 1952-1969 certainly are. They still will do perfectly as a dresswatch, and
much more affordable than a Rolex Date for example. I don't think there is much
difference between these two brands of the same age, although I can't proof this
because my knowledge of Rolex is too little. You can find the Omega Constellation pie-

pan models with cal.551 or cal.561/564 (date) starting at very decent prices on the
auction websites. The cal.55x and 56x movements are very common and can be
replaced or being repared without any major problems I guess.
I hope you enjoyed this review and please visit my site about Omega wristwatches also,
it is located at : http://www.omega-addict.com/ . If you have any comments on this
article or if you have any questions about this watch or other Omega models, don't
hestitate to contact me. My emailaddress is on top of the page.
p.s. All pictures of the reviewed Constellation were made by me, with a Sony Mavica
FD-85. And thanks to Bill Sohne on some corrections.
Best regards,
Robert Jan Broer